Watching Over
by cherryberryblablabla
Summary: Thorin has a task to keep an eye on his nephews while Foldin and Dis are out, having a day for themselves. He will find the task much more difficult when he faces Fili and Kili, who gladly break every rule their mother put up. But in the end, he would never change his nephews even the slightest; he loves them just as they are. Reward for Guest, the second winner of my competition.


**A oneshot for Guest, the second winner of my competition. I hope you'll like it! Thank you so much for your support and reviews, they really cheered me up (and still do!).**

'' So, Fili is allowed to go to bed a little later than Kili, remember that. And Kili musn't eat sweets today, he's grounded for a week. And Fili is not allowed to make pranks on Kili. And he also musn't be left alone in the bathroom. And...'' Dis continued her never ending list of rules, but Thorin didn't listen anymore.

_And this, and that... By Mahal, how can she remember all that?_ Thorin thought.

'' Understood?'' Dis asked him, giving him a strict look. Thorin pulled himself together and nodded.

'' Good. You remember what you have to cook, right?'' Dis asked, giving him another look. Thorin froze for a moment, but nodded, not wanting his sister starting a new blabbing session.

'' Fine. Foldin and I will return late in the night. Make sure they're both in bed when we come back. And that everything is where it was, unharmed. And that you're oka-''

'' Dis.'' Thorin cut her off. '' It's okay, I can take care of two dwarflings. I was watching over Frerin and you when you were little.'' He said, giving her one of his warm smiles, on which Dis always melted.

But this time it was something different; she snorted.

'' Yes, I remember that. You left us in the kitchen and we barely found the way out.'' Dis gave him a laugh. '' Frerin never ate fish ever since.''

Thorin gaped. '' It wasn't my fault! You wanted cakes! Where could I learn to smuggle sweets from the kitchen?'' He defended. '' And I told you to stick around me!''

'' Oh, come on, smuggling sweets wasn't such a big deal! Frerin and I did it almost every day!'' she blurted out. Thorin blinked in confusion.

'' You told me you never did that.'' Thorin said.

Dis realised what she said, giving him a fake smile. '' No, we didn't.'' She cleared her throat awkwardly, turning around and heading to the doors. '' I should go now, Foldin probably lost his nerves by now, poor man. See you!'' she said, getting out and leaving Thorin alone.

They smuggled sweets almost every day? And he wasn't a part of it?

That's just not fair.

And he remembered that he took the whole blame for the missing cakes after his younger siblings robbed the kitchen. It turned out that they were for Frerin's birthday, and he had got an extremely awful punishment; he had to clean the dishes in the kitchen. And remembering the amount of it, he knew that some of them were left to wait for cleaning even weeks before it was their turn.

Ugh.

'' Poor man? What about my nerves?'' He mumbled after he processed what his sister said before leaving.

When he turned around, he almost got a stroke when he almost bumped into a mini dwarfling with long black hair. He let out a relieved breath, happy that he didn't do that anyway.

'' Hello, Kili!'' He said, kneeling in front of him with a warm smile. '' What can I do for you?'' He kept smiling. He knew how Dis and Frerin used to drag him around to play with them after these words.

Kili simply watched him with indifference, before suddenly changing his face expression.

'' Monster!'' He yelled and ran away, giggling. Thorin simply stared at the dwarfling before he disappeared only seconds after, unlike his giggles.

'' I don't remember that.'' He frowned, trying to remember what could make him earn the title. What is special about monsters?

_They're ugly?_ Thorin snorted, remembering all the women that threw him interested glances when he was entering or leaving the smithery. Even though he acted uninterested, he was quite pleased.

_They stink?_ He stood up and looked around, finding no one on sight before checking that. Nope, still smelling wonderful.

_They are enemies?_ He thought and froze.

'' Oh no.'' He said, but before he could do anything, a bucket of water fell on his head. He stumbled in surprise, tripping over a chair or something before falling on the floor. He was wet for head to waist, and the water bucket was still covering his face. He took it off, panting and looking around.

Again the only sound in the house was giggling of the two dwarflings, but they were nowhere where he could see them.

'' Little rascals.'' He mumbled, getting up. He saw that the wooden floor was wet, but luckily for it (and not for Thorin), most water got absorbed by his clothes. He sighed, before climbing up and going to the bathroom.

He was smart enough to bring spare clothes, remembering that you can never know what will small children do. _Now you remember it!_ He scoffed, changing his wet dark green tunic with a midnight blue one.

'' Wow, you have big muscles!''

Thorin jumped on hearing the voice, tangling into the shirt in surprise. However it didn't take too long to untangle, and now he was looking at the small blond dwarf that watched him in awe.

'' How did you get them?!'' He asked.

Thorin raised his eyebrows. ''Uhm...'' Really, how did he get them?

'' I... I ate a lot of-of... vegetables?'' he said, not really sure about it.

Fili huffed. '' Uncle, we both know that you hate vegetables. And that you have a secret stash of cakes in the smithery.'' Fili said.

Thorin gaped. '' I don't hate vegetable-Wait, how do you know for my stash?'' He frowned.

Fili froze. '' Ups.'' He said, before twisting on his heal and running away. Thorin huffed.

'' So that's the reason why I always find only half of them!'' He exclaimed, even relieved a bit; he thought that he ate too much, considering the fact that he was only able to grow wider, not taller.

Then he shook his head. '' This is going to be a long day.''

And he was right. The same moment he went down, he saw Kili climbing on the kitchen table to reach the kitchen cupboards. He remembered what his mother said about Kili and sweets, but that became completely unimportant when Kili started waving his hands around, losing his balance with a heavy pastry jar in hands.

'' Kili!'' Horrified Thorin exclaimed before running to the kitchen and catching Kili, but not the pastry jar, which fell on the floor and shattered to pieces. He froze, gulping; Dis is going to kill him.

'' Weeee! I'm flying!'' Kili exclaimed in Thorin's arm, before sliping out of them and disappearing again. Thorin watched him in awe; he could get severely hurt if he didn't catch him, and he was still ready for more?! _If there were more soldiers like this..._ Thorin suddenly realised, pondering the benefits of an army of such soldiers.

He looked through the window, seeing that the Sun was pretty high by now. _Noon. Time for lunch._ He shrugged his shoulders and went to the pantry.

_Oh-uh._He thought; what did Dis say about cooking?

He forgot. By Mahal, he forgot. And by Durin's beard, he was definitely dead later.

He glanced over the provisions in the pantry; vegetables, fruit, more vegetables, eggs, more vegetables...

'' Is she trying to make them vegetarians or what?'' He mumbled, surprised by the lack of meat in their home.

He sighed, thinking of what to do know. He looked more carefully; eggs, flour, milk, sugar... He grinned, knowing what to do. He's dead already, and making pancakes won't change that. Besides, he wanted some pancakes too.

He tied his long black hair into a ponytail and prepared the ingredients. After mixing them and creating a creamy, yellow blend, he took out the flat pan (which was Dis' favorite one, and it meant he was not allowed to ruin it) and started frying.

He just added the blend for a last pancake when a loud scream echoed through the house.

'' UNCLE THORIN!'' Kili cried out. Thorin froze, left everything and ran to the living room, where the voice is coming from.

'' Look!'' Kili exclaimed, and Thorin froze; Kili had a dark hair like him. Just like him.

And now his hair had glaringly red locks. Thorin sighed and looked at the horrified dwarfling.

'' Fili!'' He called out. '' Where is he?'' he frowned. HE wondered where could Fili get red dye colour.

'' In the bathroom.'' Kili said, still feeling awful for having red locks. '' My life is over.'' He said, twirling one of the dyed locks in his fingers.

Thorin looked at Kili in bewilderment. '' Why would it be over?!''

Kili looked at him. '' Mum will kill me.'' He said like it was the most normal thing on earth.

Thorin blinked, realising that it could be true. '' Don't worry, she'll be too angry with me to do anything with you.'' He gave the dwarfling a small smile, and Kili jumped up and hugged Thorin's leg.

'' Thank you, Uncle Thorin! I love you!'' He said, before running upstairs. Thorin smiled slightly, but then he realised that he was saying that as a goodbye.

Then he froze again; Fili was in the bathroom.

Alone.

''_Fili is not allowed to make pranks on Kili. And he's also musn't be left in the bathroom alone.''_ Dis' words echoed through his mind.

Oh, shit.

He marched upstairs to the bathroom, swinging the door open.

'' Whoa!'' He exclaimed when he slipped, ending up on the bubble-covered floor. He raised his head out of the soap bubbles, and found Fili giggling at him.

'' You look good.'' He giggled, pointing on his beard covered with cheery soap bubbles.

Thorin was not cheery. He gave the dwarfling a warning look, and Fili turned serious; he crossed the line this time. '' Fili, only because I love you... If you manage to get away from here in five seconds, I'll forgive you.'' He said.

Fili got scared and ran out of the bathroom, jumping over Thorin's stretched physique. Thorin got up, wincing in pain. He will have some bruises after this. He sighed at seeing the mess in the bathroom, sighing once more before cleaning it up.

'' That's better!'' He smiled, seeing that the bathroom was now shining.

He went downstairs with a smile, when suddenly Kili was pulling his sleeve.

'' Uncle, I think you ruined mum's favorite pan.''

Thorin gulped; the pancake.

He went into the kitchen, seeing that once white-yellow blend in the pan was now as black as tar. He took the pan and observed it; yep, it was destroyed.

'' Mahal, what have I ever done to you?'' He sat down with a sad look, still holding the pan.

His rebellious nephews felt sorry for him, so they both gave him a hug. '' Don't worry, Uncle Thorin.'' Fili said. '' Mum loves you too much to kill you.''

Thorin chuckled and wrapped his arms around his nephews. '' I hope so.'' He let go of them and stood up. '' Now, who wants some pancakes?'' He smiled when his nephews cheered.

After feeding the hungry dwarflings (each one of them eating more than he was ever able to), he tried to save Dis' pan. He managed to scrub most of it off the pan, and it now looked as if it was bought yesterday.

He then went to the living room and lied down for a nap on the couch. He soon drifted into a restful sleep, silently snoring.

'' Uncle Thorin?'' Fili tugged his sleeve. Thorin woke up, looking around sleepily.

'' What is it?'' He straightened, yawning slightly.

'' Kili had a nightmare.'' Fili said, worried about his little brother.

Thorin frowned and stood up. Fili led him to Kili's room, where he found a scared dwarfling shaking in fear. Thorin immediately walked to him, sitting on the bed.

'' Hey, Kili, I'm here!'' he said gently, pulling him small nephew into his warm embrace. '' What is it?''

Kili sniffed. '' I-I had a... a nightmare... about you.'' He sobbed out.

'' About me?'' Thorin frowned.

Kili nodded. '' I-I know I shouldn't have, but... but I heard when... when you and dad... talked about battles.'' He sniffed again. Thorin couldn't believe it; when could he hear that?

'' I remember that-that dad said that-that some big monster, a big, very big orc, attacked you, and-and that you sliced off his hand.'' Kili sobbed out. '' I-I dreamed that-that you had no time for that, and that- that the monster...'' Kili started crying at this point.

'' Shhh, I'm here. I'm fine, you see?'' He said, offering the dwarfling a warm smile. '' That monster is gone for a long while now. He won't hurt me again.'' He said, and Kili calmed down a bit. Fili sat down on the other side of the bed.

'' He's alright, Kili.'' He said, putting a hand on his little brother's shoulder. '' He is always here when we need him.'' Kili looked at his brother and hugged him. Fili accepted the hug, while Thorin's lips parted a bit; that was something he never expected to hear. This woke up something very warm inside him, and he couldn't resist but smile at his nephew.

'' And he'll always be here.'' Fili continued, before cracking a smile. '' And the only monster that could kill him is our mother.''

All three of them laughed at this, and Thorin couldn't help but to ruffle his blonde nephew's hair.

'' You aren't going to tell her that, will you?'' Fili turned serious.

Thorin smiled. '' No, I won't.'' Then he looked at Kili. '' Do you think a good night story could make you feel better?'' Kili nodded.

'' Okay then.'' Thorin said, taking his shoes off and climbing on Kili's bed on his left. Fili ran from the other side to Thorin's left and climbed on the bed as well. Thorin smiled and wrapped each one of his arms around each one of his nephews.

'' Long ago, there was a Ranger...''

Dis opened the door and walked inside. It was completely dark. Foldin followed her, quite sleepy and tired. '' Go to sleep, darling. I'll come soon.'' Dis said.

'' Are you sure?'' He asked.

'' Yes, I just need to see if everything is alright and send Thorin home. He must be dead tired by now, maybe he could have a sleepover?'' Dis asked.

'' Of course. After all he had done, he deserves a little peace.'' Foldin smiled, before kissing his wife's forehead and silently heading upstairs.

Dis wandered around the ground floor, inspecting. She found broken glass in the bin, and the pastries in the bowl. _Not a cookie smuggler, but a cookie monster._ She smiled.

She saw that her pan was a bit burned, but not very much. She could forgive him that.

She then realised that he didn't need the pan for the vegetable stew. _Pancakes again!_ She rolled her eyes. _As if it's not enough he's making himself fat, he has to spoil my children too._

But when she climbed up the stairs to check on her sons (Kili first, as he was closer to the staircase), she slowly opened the door, only smile warmly at the view.

Her brother was half-sitting in Kili's bed, sleeping surrounded by his nephews on each side. Both Fili and Kili were sleeping on his chest in his warm embrace, and all three of them were unknowingly having something like a snoring contest. Of course, Thorin was winning.

She smiled, remembering how he used to tell stories to her when she was little and scared of lightning. He was always a good story teller, and a good brother as well.

She couldn't count how many times he took the blame instead of Frerin and her, how many times he stood up for them. And she was now watching how he was doing the same for her sons.

Even if she tried to, she could never wish for a better brother than Thorin. Even if he was about to eat all of her cookies.

**So, how was it? I hope it was funny, because I always wondered how would it be if Thorin was a babysitter-it would be so awesome! He is sometimes grumpy and rough, but come on-everybody has a soft spot! And I think that Thorin's soft spot are his nephews.**

**Congratulations again, Guest! I hope you liked this :)**

**Love, cherry.**

**P.S. Does anybody thinks Thorin makes amazing pancakes? :)**


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